Sauers looking forward to Champions debut

"Where have you been?" Charles Coody asks after sinking a birdie putt on 9th hole of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Demaret Division on Monday. Coody has won three PGA Tour tournaments and five Champions Tour victories. (Photo by Carl Elmore/For the Savannah Morning News)

Don January blasts out of sand on Monday's final hole of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Demaret Division. January has accumulated 10 PGA Tour and 22 Champions Tour victories during his golfing career. (Photo by Carl Elmore/For the Savannah Morning News)

In about four months, he’ll turn 50 and be eligible to play on the Champions Tour.

Fifty never looked so good.

“A lot of my friends out here tell me, ‘Gene, it’s not easy out here. We still putt good, still hit it good,’ and I’m, ‘I know. I’m not taking it lightly,’” said Sauers.

Those not taking their elders seriously would be making a huge mistake at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort & Spa. The Demaret Division — golfers 70 years of age and older — proved that Monday. The team of Lee Trevino and Mike Hill shot into the lead of the best-ball tournament by posting an 11-under 61 to start the week for the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf tournament.

Golfers in the Demaret Division finish today with each member of the winning team pocketing $60,000.

The 36-hole Raphael Division tournament tees off Friday, and the Legends tournament begins Friday with 54 holes of action.

“It’s something I always dreamed about, playing over here, when they first moved the tournament here,” said Sauers, a Benedictine and Georgia Southern grad who won three times and earned more than $4 million on the PGA Tour.

Sauers looks at golf differently after suffering from a potentially life-threatening skin disease called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome almost three years ago.

He helped lead a pro-am Monday to raise money for SJS research.

“It was painful, I can’t explain how painful it really is,” said Sauers, who spent seven weeks in the hospital recovering from SJS. “I know what (victims) are going through, and anything I can do to help, it’s peace in my mind and my heart.”

Sauers isn’t a stranger to raising money for charity. For years, he helped lead a tournament at the Savannah Golf Club that donated money to St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital.

He says he’s blessed to have opportunities to play golf and help people.

And it all continues at 50.

Sauers has played in two Nationwide tour events, making one cut, and plans to begin a month on the road (starting with a tournament in Valdosta) in an effort to prepare for his Champions Tour debut in Seattle at the Boeing Classic on Aug. 24, two days after his 50th birthday.

“I’ll be a rookie again, but I won’t be playing like a rookie,” Sauers said.

Trevino, Hill lead

A new sand wedge worked wonders for Trevino.

He said he hit behind a ball mistakenly only to get a fortunate roll for a 60-foot eagle on No. 11 to propel his team to a two-stroke lead over the team of Frank Beard and Larry Ziegler.

Beard and Ziegler shot a 9-under 63 on the 6,177-yard par 72 course.

Defending champions J.C. Snead and Gibby Gilbert are three shots back at 64. Four teams are tied for fourth at 65.

Hilton Head resident Jim Ferree and teammate Miller Barber are 10th among the 18 teams at 67.

Trevino and Hill will be trying to win all three Legends tournaments — the Demaret, Raphael and Legends. Only the team of Don January and Gene Littler has won each Legends tournament.

Hill got the team off to a good start by birding the first four holes. Trevino had a birdie on No. 7, and the team kept pace with their playing partner duo of Snead-Gilbert. Both teams, along with Beard-Ziegler, shot 5-under 31s through nine holes.

But Trevino and Hill were 6 under on the back nine holes.

“We shot 11 under, but it wasn’t a difficult one because we were hitting short clubs in,” Trevino said.

While the tournament is fun for legendary golfers, Hill says there’s a competitive component to the event.

Four teams pulled out of the Demaret Division competition. Bob Toski, 85, came down with flu-like symptoms and was taken to a local emergency clinic by his caddie and released later in the day, according to Legends tournament executive director Joe Rotellini. Toski played in a pro-am Sunday. Toski’s partner Jack Fleck, 90, did not play Monday.

Charlie Sifford’s sickness left Lee Elder without a partner. First hole announcer Brendan Cunningham filled in and played with Elder. The teams of Al Besselink-Doug Sanders and Fred Hawkins-Howie Johnson did not play.

Tommy Armour III, Scott Hoch and the team of Mark O’Meara and Nick Price withdrew from the Legends field on Monday. Gary Hallberg will replace Armour and play with Corey Pavin. Mike Goodes will replace Hoch and play with Craig Stadler.